Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon
by mysticdragon3MD3
Summary: Guardians of an ancient kingdom are reincarnated to find each other again and fight to protect the modern era. But Lina didn't expect the silly costumes. Fusion type cross-over; Slayers characters in Sailormoon settings/set-ups. Zel/Lina pairing (and Gourry/Sylphiel). Rated T for few suggestions of mature themes. Written after Slayers Try & before seasons 4-5
1. prologue: Twilight of the Moon Kingdom

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Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon

Prologue: Twilight of the Moon Kingdom

* * *

"FIREBALL!" Princess Gracia dodged another fireball without much more success than the last one. Which meant, she was currently putting out the flames in her cape. "Gracia! Thanks to you the entire Moon Kingdom thinks that even dragons are repulsed by me! If you call me 'Dragon Spooker' on more time-!"

"Sir Inverse." said a quite, but stern voice. Across the royal courtyard, past the gardens where Princess Amelia picked flowers, Lina caught sight of Luna. Lina didn't notice her older sister was accompanying the Moon Kingdom's King Phil. She was too busy shivering at Luna's icy cold stare. As they approached, Lina's pupils widened in fear, but luckily, King Phil placed a hand on Luna's shoulder.

"Now, now, Luna." The king of the Moon Kingdom grinned to his long-time protector, "They were only teasing."

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty. But as Knights of the Moon, both I AND Lina," Luna gave her sister another fearful glance, "are sworn to protect the royal family. NOT to Fireball the princesses." Lina's eyes traced the ground, obviously looking very ashamed.

_"I hope she's buying this!"_ Lina thought, trying to keep up her repentant appearance. Just then Princess Amelia walked up to the group with floral garlands in her hands.

"Look, Daddy! I've been weaving flowers from the gardens!" She crowned her father's head with a lei.

"Thank you, Amelia!" He fingered the lei and grinned again. "But girls, there's something I need to discuss with both of you. Tomorrow the Prince from Earth will be visiting the palace to seal an alliance between Earth and the Moon. As you know, our Moon Kingdom has been sealing alliances with marriage (whenever possible) for generations."

"M-m-marriage?' The two princesses stuttered, as well as their royal protector. Luna on the other hand, only stood emotionless, having been part of the earlier discussions with the Earth Prince and King Phil.

"And what does the Earth Prince think of this?" Lina arched her brow in a strange manner. Luna gave her another look, and she quickly appended, "If I may please ask, Your Highness?"

"He is a dutiful young man." King Phil replied. "He accepts a marriage alliance as a necessary royal duty." Phil motioned towards Gracia and Amelia. "Tomorrow, when the prince arrives, I want you two girls to meet him and make a decision as to which one of you will marry him."

That's what King Phil had told the Princesses yesterday. Since then, Gracia and Amelia tried to go about their normal business, but both were in an underlying daze. Gracia went a little over the top with her arrogance and demeaning towards Lina to hide her nervousness at the prospect of an arranged marriage, at which Lina sorely wanted to Dragon Slave her for. Luna sensing this, always made sure to be in the vicinity of the princess and her "protector", to deter Lina from such violent reactions. Unable to vent, and still required to stay with the princesses at all times for their protection, Lina was about ready to go nuts. Fortunately, there was a party being held tonight to welcome the Earth royal court, so Lina could get some peace while Gracia got ready.

Lina passed down the hall, giving the guards at Gracia's door both a grateful and pitying smile for relieving her of duty, while she herself had to get ready for the party. After all, a Moon Knight as high ranking as Lina was required to be introduced properly to the Prince. She would have to get cleaned up.

Well, cleaned up in the general sense anyway. At an introductory party like this, all knights were required to wear their full uniforms. Which was fine with Lina. As nice as it was to get all dressed up in a ball gown and feel like a queen, it was nicer to be comfortable for the rest of the night. Lina's uniform wasn't much different from what she usually wore. It had the same type of tunic, cape, boots, and gloves, but the former were all a gleaming white to represent her allegiance to the Moon. Also in accordance with royal colors, the trim on her tunic was silver, where it was usually grey, as were the gloves and boots. There were little jewels on her silver shoulder guards, along with tiny golden moon etchings. All in all, it was a dazzling site. Lina made sure to brush her hair neatly and wear some special crescent moon earrings. Lastly, she sat on her bed, staring at the breastplate she left on the other side of the room.

She really didn't like to wear that thing. Not that she ever really needed it. And no! Not because there was nothing there to protect! Lina fumed at the memory of the common joke going on behind her back among the other Moon Knights. But she quickly subdued, remembering also her satisfaction at Fireballing the lot of them. Her forte was magic, not physical combat-which she thought she excelled in just the same. It was part of the official uniform only because the first knights were swordsmen. And swordsmen wore breastplates. Heavy, silver, gold-etched breastplates. Well, forget that! She wasn't going through with it! And Lina marched out her chamber door. She took not two steps when she noticed Luna in the hall, about ready to glare her down for what seemed, in the split second that Luna saw her, like Lina not wearing her full uniform. Lina quickly jumped back into her room and slipped on the form-fitting piece of metal. She took a breath as she exited her room again. This was going to be a long night.

The party was going well. The Prince hadn't arrived yet, but there were court officials and Knights from the surrounding kingdoms ringing the ballroom. Lina stayed seated at an empty table on the upper level, jutting over the dance floor. Having finished with a plate which she had sneaked from the kitchen that was too busy preparing for tonight's dinner, she sat content, looking over the white tiled floor. Many uniformed and highly decorated people having superficial chit chat no doubt. The string quartet continually playing the same song. _"Hmm. I wonder if I can hit them with my spoon from here...?"_

"Miss Lina!"

"Aah!" Lina jumped in reply.

"I'm sorry!" Amelia apologized, standing beside Lina's seat. "But Luna says that she wants you to stay with me and Gracia." Lina stood up stiffly, at the mental image of her older sister, and followed Amelia to meet with Gracia.

* * *

Lina wanted to yawn, but with her sister so near by (though on the other side of the ballroom), she had to keep up the dutiful soldier act. Lina stood up straight beside the princesses, just as Luna did beside the king, while she and the king chatted with the Mars and Saturn princesses. Gracia was comparing looks with the equally arrogant princess of Jupiter, another of the Moon Kingdom's allies. Martina of the Jupiter kingdom was virtually Gracia's reflection, in the moment Lina glanced at them. And Amelia was grilling the legislative advisor about justice. Thankfully, a kitchen servant walked by with an appetizer tray. Lina grabbed two handfuls.

Trumpets blared.

_"Oh, great. Just when I get some food."_ Lina quickly gulped her appetizers and wiped the crumbs from her face.

"Zelgadis Greywiers, Prince of Earth!" A court servant announced beside the doorway at the top of the stairs. In that doorway stood a man, who Lina judged to be her age, 18, with smooth features and purple hair hanging over one eye. He descended the stairs, and was followed by a similar looking, older man who walked with a staff and his eyes closed, apparently blind.

"Rezo the Red Priest, advisor to the crown!" The prince, escorted by his own royal protectors, approached King Phil and Luna, who were now joined by Lina and the Princesses.

"Good evening, Your Highness." Prince Zelgadis addressed King Phil with a slight nod. "I must thank you for your hospitality."

"Oh, no need!" King Phil grinned, raising a hand lightly. "Let me introduce my first daughter, Princess Gracia."

Instead of curtsying, Gracia stood erect and haughty with her hands on her hips. She even added to her introduction, "The most beautiful and powerful princess of the entire Silver Millenium!" Even Luna sweatdropped. Zelgadis quickly gave his grandfather a glance both disbelieving and supplicant, to which Rezo gave a slight affirming nod, his expression also in disbelief.

"And this is my second daughter, Princess Amelia." King Phil motioned to the suddenly shy young girl who did curtsy. Rezo glanced at Zel, just slightly nodding for him to proceed. Zelgadis almost sighed and blushed, bowing to Amelia, taking her hand and kissing it gently. Lina could see that this was something forcibly rehearsed. Lina raised an eyebrow. Luna made her stop. Beside her, Amelia had a shy kind of glow at the sweet formality, totally oblivious to the Prince's reluctance in the act.

"This is my grandfather, royal advisor, and court sorcerer, Rezo." Zelgadis motioned to the man in red robes. Before they could ask, Rezo stated, "I've lived a long time because of my magic. I've been giving the throne to my heirs when they were old enough." A nod of "oh" went around their little circle. Zelgadis continued, "This is my royal protector, Gourry, and these are my two highest generals, Rodimus and Zolf." Zelgadis motioned to the Earth Knights beside him. Lina noticed a mystic aura around the man introduced as Zolf.

_"He must be a sorcerer knight, like me."_ Lina thought. _"Heh. He has to wear some armor too!"_ The Earth Knights wore navy blue and forest green uniforms, with shoulder and hip guards, a breastplate, but no cape. They both bowed, paying their respects to the Moon King. It took Gourry a moment to realize he must do the same. In return, King Phil introduced their own royal protectors, at which, both Inverses bowed to Prince Zelgadis.

After the Prince acknowledged them, King Phil clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "Well! Let us begin your welcome party!" And at that, the string quartet began a more spirited tune, proper for a minuet dance. With much formality, the Prince asked Amelia for the first dance. A little shakey, she accepted. As the dance began, there was not much she could think of to converse with him, but it was just as well. The Prince would only speak when bidden, and then, very little and saying only the most appropriate of responses. Straight from the etiquette text book.

By the time dinner came, Lina was bored out of her skull. She preferred the more lively dances that one usually found in countryside pubs. Every movement here was just all too well-organized for her. And speaking of which, the Earth Prince was the most perfect of all, although she could detect that this was all too boring for him as well. Well, she would help both of them out. Mid-dance, as partners switched and mingled around the room before rejoining again, Lina suddenly added more steps to her part, proving most confusing and embarrassing for her partner at the time, which was of course the Prince. She switched off again in turn, going around the room, all the while suppressing the laugh she would have liked to voice at the Prince's blushing befuddlement. Now she knew what type he was. The only thing keeping him from retreating from this whole social activity was the promise that nothing was unplanned. All one needed was to follow the written rules of civility. ...And oh, how Lina loved to break the rules!

Lina followed the crowd down the hall for dinner. She almost giggled, still remembering how red the Prince had so quickly become. Then she noticed someone approaching her through the crowds.

"Hello, Princess Sylphiel."

"Good evening, Sir Inverse. ...Sir Inverse?"

"Yes?"

"Who is that blond man with the Earth Prince?"

"Hm? I saw you dancing with him earlier. Didn't he step on your feet a couple of times?" Lina gave a glancing inspection of Sylphiel's feet.

"Y-yes." Sylphiel blushed. "He apologized for it continually..." Sylphiel blushed even more. "He wasn't clumsy, he just didn't know all the steps. He just laughed at himself and tried again when he made mistakes." She smiled, not quite looking at Lina anymore. "He even let me teach him..."

"Um, Your Highness?"

"Yes?" Sylphiel snapped back.

"He's the Earth Prince's royal bodyguard. Gourry Gabriev."

"Gourry..." Sylphiel whispered.

"Yes." Lina nodded her head as if confirming the answer of a 5 year old. "Why don't you go ask Princess Amelia about him? I'm sure she'd love to chat about this stuff, and maybe she could introduce you."

"Oh, yes! Thank you Sir Inverse!" Sylphiel went off quickly through the continuing crowd. Well, not at crashing sonic speed, but faster than her usual delicate glide over the tiles. Lina shook her head. Both she and the other princess of the Silver Millennium planets knew Amelia loved to encourage the ideal romance. Amelia and Sylphiel would no doubt take up the rest of the night chatting about "the bliss of love" and "unimaginable depths of feeling" for the rest of the night. Lina gaged.

Zelgadis shuddered. The youngest Moon princess and the princess of Saturn had been going on non-stop about a crush the Saturn Princess apparently had on his royal bodyguard. Zelgadis glanced across the room to see Gourry making a mess of his dinner. He sighed, looking around at the table where he sat. To the left and right of him were princesses. Apparently, the royalty of each planet were not only allied with the Moon's, but they were close friends. The princesses all insisted on sitting at the head table together. And Zelgadis being the guest of honor, had to sit with them. He continued nibbling at his dinner. He really didn't like to eat much, but dinner was a time for conversation, and had to last for the duration of those conversations. And the conversations around the room were dragging on too long! Amelia had tried talking to him, but with their current topic, he just quickly promised to introduce Gourry to Sylphiel sometime, and then subtly refused any further involvement in the matter. Amelia seemed so enthusiastic about the topic, that he might have to sit here for quite some time. He sipped his tea again.

There was a large slurping sound.

"Oops. Sorry." A red head at one table looked about sheepishly from her soup. Zel felt a sudden increase in mystic energy. It came from a fuschia-haired woman glaring at the red head. _The Moon's royal protectors must have a very strange relationship._ Zelgadis shook his head and returned to his tea. For no reason at all, he glanced back at the younger of the Sir Inverses. She had smiled so widely at him during the dance. If she thought he didn't notice her _trying_ to embarrass him and having fun doing so, she was wrong. Then suddenly, she smiled up at him.

_That should stun him._ Lina returned to her meal. It certainly was easy to make this prince blush. But, it _was_ a funny sight. Kind of...amusing, in some way. Still, she felt kind of sorry for the guy. He didn't seem to be interested in the food, and that was about the only interesting thing there. She knew. In fact, the whole kitchen staff knew. If there wasn't food to keep Lina occupied while she sat through these gossipy dinner functions, she'd hassle the servers to no end.

Lina decided to do something radical. No more formalities and just polite questions.

Zelgadis caught wind of a more interesting conversation going around the tables. Or rather, trying to go around the tables. Someone had read his mind, so to speak, in asking about the current threat of Mazoku. But it apparently was not on anyone else's. Other than a general dislike of Mazoku and shared stories of relatives they had killed, there was not much of real value. Soon, the conversation drifted off into nothing more than sentimental interest; receding back to the same tone of the previous conversations.

Lina grabbed her fork, and with a jab, harshly speared it through the meat on her plate. Her conversation topic wasn't going in the direction she had hoped. She wanted to discuss strategies and mystic reserves. Maybe some ancient magics hidden in each planet? It couldn't hurt to be more informed about that. Anything that might be useful as a weapon against the Mazoku. Or they could at least share more useful information about the capabilities of the elusive Mazoku, lurking around the galaxy. Lina blew a strand of hair from her face.

But dessert was on its way, so Lina quickly set aside her annoyances for another day.

"May I have your attention?" King Phil rang his goblet with his fork. The chattering diners quickly became silent. "Prince Zelgadis has decided to make my youngest daughter Amelia, his betrothed." Many people cheered and clapped. "I invite you all for the wedding, to be held in one month."

The clapping and congratulations continued on into the night, as Zelgadis trudged to his guest suite in the palace.

"Not the happy bridegroom?" A voice accompanied by a chiming staff approached from behind him.

"Oh, hello, Grandfather." Zel stopped amid the vast, empty hall. "Should I be particularly happy _OR_ sad?" Zelgadis shrugged matter-of-factly.

"My, my. If I had that attitude towards my marriage, your father may never have been born." Rezo smiled.

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. His grandfather...always with the bad jokes. The two continued towards their rooms.

"She seems a pleasant girl." Rezo commented.

"That she does." Zelgadis again stated flatly.

"And she is very pretty."

"Yes." Still, no real response. By now, they had stopped outside Zelgadis's door. Rezo placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder.

"Ah, well! You'll react to her on your honeymoon."

"Grandfather!" Zelgadis blushed furiously, at which Rezo laughed. (Laughed at the embarrassment Zel exuded, not quite so much his face turning red.) The Red Priest continued down the side of the hall towards his own guest suite.

"Relax, my boy! One would think you would prefer the other princess."

"No!" Zelgadis was aghast with horror. Rezo's laughing slowly echoed out.

* * *

Early the next morning, Zelgadis found an empty courtyard to do his daily sword practice. Gone were his normal black royal armor. Instead he wore a simple set of ivory tunic, pants, and cloak. He continued to swing his sword until a clapping sound echoed behind him.

"Very nice!" Lina appraoched him with a genuine smile of admiration, her eyes slightly widened.

"Sir Inverse-"

Lina's face scrunched at the sound of her title. It was just too strange. "That's _Lina_, *Zel*!"

"'Zel'?"

"Well, your name is Zelgadis, isn't it?" She continued pacing towards him.

"Yes, but no one's ever spoken to me so informally. Especially a-"

"A non-royal?"

"I meant to say a knight."

"But you were thinking a lower-class subject."

Zel began to blush.

"I meant to offense." He stammered.

"None taken." Lina drew her sword. Zel's eyes quirked and smiled at her skeptically. He readied his own sword.

Between blows, Lina continued their conversation.

"I came to tell you," she dodged another swipe, "Princess Amelia would like to show you around the palace later today."

"Well, thank you for delivering the message." Zel replied without so much as missing a beat.

Lina mentally cursed. She was huffing and puffing, straining against his sword, and he wasn't even distracted by side-talk. But ah, then the topic would have to be more interesting to grab his attention from the fight to do that, now would it.

"By the way, will you be giving Amelia the customary, after-date kiss?"

The grip on Zel's sword weakened considerably. And Lina's sword against his, easily forced him away, off his feet, in fact. Lina took the time-out to laugh at his expense.

"You..." Zel smirked, jumping back into the sparring session again. He chided himself for letting her find his weaknesses so quickly. But he had to admit, it was a simple, yet brilliant strategy. She would have to be strong in that respect, considering what he could glean of her sword ability so far. For a moment, he wondered how she got the position of royal bodyguard with her swordsmanship level. Then he noticed the mystic aura around her.

"You could have just asked if I was a mage."

Zel barely dodged a strike. How could she have felt him probing her aura? He was naturally adept in astral/psychic magics, and had by now become an expert.

"Oh, Prince Zelgadis!"

Lina mentally identified Amelia's voice behind her, on the outskirts of the courtyard. Oh, no. She was not going to get beaten in front of Amelia. Lina focused her attacks against the prince, forcing him to forego a greeting to the princess. For a moment, Lina saw a pitying glance on the prince's face, before he hesitated at a crucial moment. Lina struck the sword from his hand and pointed the edge of her blade at his heart. Amelia ran up to them, clapping.

"Oh, that was so great, Miss Lina! And you were wonderful, Prince Zelgadis!"

Lina still stood there, frozen in her winning position, staring at the prince. He stared back, his eyes asking for forgiveness.

"Prince Zelgadis..." Amelia looked between the two. "Would you like to see the palace now?"

Absently, Zelgadis nodded. Almost not knowing how to proceed with the princess. He remembered something about it being gentlemanly to offer one's arm as an escort. Amelia took it gratefully, a smile sparkling across her face, as she lead him out of the courtyard. Zel tried hard not to look back at the Moon Knight, still staring at him as he disappeared around a corner.

Lina stomped down the halls.

_How dare he! How dare he! How dare he!_ Lina fumed profusely. _How dare he patronize her! And he knew it!_ As if anyone wouldn't notice how he consciously slowed, his failing movement much more hesitant than he had already proven himself capable of. Thankfully, she didn't have to follow them around to protect Amelia. Lina had found the prince's royal bodyguard to fill in for both their roles. It took half an hour to explain what he was supposed to do, not to mention, where to go. So, needless to say, Lina was about to snap.

"Inverse." One of the palace guards passed down the hall. "Saw your match. Funny how just when you won, he moved slower all of a sudden. 'Course, that's probably the only way you'd ever win." He began to chuckle and was quickly joined by the surrounding guards posted. The laughing resonated throughout the halls, carried by the prevalence of guards everywhere in the palace.

"FIREBALL!"

* * *

Zel had finally escaped the little tour. It was all very uncomfortable silence for him. He liked silence, yes, but not when interrupted by occasional comments on which flowers made the best leis, or the decisions that went into which room decorations, or the most romantic views one got at certain balconies and towers of the palace. He sighed. Now he had some time to himself. Just a cup of tea, some reading, and straight to bed.

Zelgadis wandered through the corridors of the palace, headed for the royal library. But strangely enough all the halls were empty. There were scorch marks where there should have been soldiers posted. Careless. And his kingdom wanted an alliance with the Moon's? It was more like the Moon needed an more reasonable ally to protect _them_. But he mustn't underestimate the Moon, Zelgadis reminded himself. They had possession of the legendary Demonsblood Crystal, as well as the friendship and loyalty of the other planets. Besides that, better to make friends, than enemies of the satellite orbiting your home planet. Zelgadis sighed.

On the way, he saw a grassy hill with a lone silhouette. He stopped to scrutinize the almost familiar seated figure beside a tree. Sir Inverse. A wave of shame came over him. It was a cruel thing for him to do just for convenience's sake, especially with so many guards posted around the palace to see. And she certainly seemed the type where such a thing mattered. Knees drawn to her chest, she stared off into the horizon, never moving at the chilling breezes that ran through her hair.

But what did he know to say to help her? Why help her at all? The answer came in a wash of similar memories. Those past feelings clear in his mind, he slowly made his way to the grassy hill.

* * *

Feeling the presence of an interloper, Lina closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She sensed the person take a seat beside her. She was careful to block off her thoughts, even before she sensed the mystic aura. Despite the proximity to her, whoever it was wasn't making any attempt to say anything to her. That was fine; she wasn't about to share her thoughts. The minutes trudged on, and still, silence.

"More time for our match would have been nice."

Lina recognized the smooth voice. Zelgadis didn't dare to say anything more. He seemed to only watch the night sky. But Lina could feel a concerned glance from the corner of his eye.

"I'm just a little tired, that's all." She hoped that excuse would allow her to hide her face from the Prince. Holding her knees to her chest, she rested her head on them and turned away.

Despite that, Zel knew the expression she wore. It was the same he had all those years ago when he first began training in the the sword and mystic arts. She wanted to cry at her humiliation, and her helplessness, yet he knew that it was also the very last thing she wanted to do. Zel did her the courtesy of looking away. Instead, he focused his attention to view the stars and the Earth. "I promise, Lina. The next time we fight, I won't hold anything back."

"You better not!"

Zel recieved a swift punch in the arm. But he smiled, and Lina continued to rest her head on her knees. They stayed seated on that grassy hill together for a long time, neither saying a word, but never a word needed.

* * *

Early the next morning, Zel found the empty courtyard again, with his sword in hand. In the middle of adjusting his cloak as he walked towards the open area, he looked up and froze.

"Sir Inverse..."

"I told you." She smiled, getting up from the middle of the pearl white, open space. "It's OK to call me Lina."

Zel gently smiled and readied a fighting stance.

"Your move."

* * *

For the next few weeks, Lina and Zel's swords clashed every morning in the pearl white courtyard. Always followed by a nice reprieve.

"So where are the princesses? Shouldn't you be watching them?" Zel sat on one of the stone benches separating the open courtyard from the gardens.

"You mean Goldfish Feces and Miss Justice?" Lina laughed from where she sat on the ground, leaning against the bench, and almost spilled her water flask. Zel raised an eyebrow. "They don't wake up this early. Do you realize what an ungodly hour you get up at to practice?!"

"Then why do you get up this early?"

"Um, well...guards always get up earlier than the royals." Lina finished quickly, looked away and focused on drinking her water. "So, speaking of which... How do you royal people go through with these arranged marriages?"

"Why don't you ask Amelia?"

"'Cause I'm asking you! ...Besides she's too love-struck to help me figure this out." Lina rolled her eyes.

Zelgadis gulped his water.

"I mean, do you go through some kind of conditioning when you're born into a royal family, so you don't care who you have to put up with for the rest of your life?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"So you really don't care who you end up with?" Lina leaned forward on the bench, from her seat on the ground, in disbelief.

Zel only nodded blankly.

"Jeeze!" Lina plopped back down on the ground, again leaning her back against the bench's legs. More to herself, Lina began muttering, "I could never do," she blushed slightly, "_all_ that..."

"I try not to think about it." He added. Then he smirked. "But I bet for enough food and money, you would."

"And how would you know I'd do that!?" Lina took a swipe at him with her fist, but he leaned away. Lina resisted trying again, especially against Zel, and just chuged her water flask again. She gave a large refreshed sound afterwards, then continued. "Do you think Amelia is *really* love-struck, or is she trying to fool herself. Y'know, part of the conditioning?" Lina sucked on her flask again and looked to Zel.

"Why ask me? You've been her body guard."

"And you're her fiancee! Jeeze. Are you saying you haven't gotten to know her better yet?" A tinge of exasperation.

"It hasn't been enough time."

"And yet you're SO SURE what I would do." Lina looked up, annoyed. Her ears perked when Zel began to laugh. "What?"

"Does that mean you _would_ go that far for money and food?"

Lina promptly replied by throwing her water flask at him.

The empty flask landed at Luna's feet. Both Lina and the Prince turned to see Luna look up coldly from the flask to her little sister.

"Good day, Your Highness." Luna nodded to Zel.

"Good day, Sir Inverse." Zel nodded in reply.

"Princess Amelia is waiting for you by the reflection pool."

"Thank you." Zel took his sword and got up. "I will see you, Lina." He smiled before leaving the courtyard. As soon as he was out of range, Lina stood up straight and tried not to shiver.

"Lina." Luna growled softly like a large carnivore. "This betrothal is vital, to both kingdoms. Don't jeopardize it!"

"What?"

"Lina, You've sworn to protect the royal family. And not just from mortal danger. The princess would be crushed if you took Prince Zelgadis from her!"

Lina wasn't afraid anymore, she was too angry for that. Unfortuneately, Luna was angry as well.

"And another thing, Lina." Luna continued in her dangerously even tone, as she picked up Lina's thrown water flask. "_Don't_ throw things at your superiors."

* * *

A very loud and bright light caught the corner of Amelia's eye.

"What was that?" She asked Zelgadis as he walked along side her. Zel stopped and scanned in the direction of the courtyard. It definitely sounded like short range offensive magic and someone in pain. Very similar to Lina's voice...

* * *

"What?! Did she get hit in the head or something?!" Lina muttered to herself. "To think that I...would be...in *love*..." Lina paused for a moment. "...with...him..."

"Miss Lina!"

Lina almost fell over from her seat on the grassy hill. "Oh, hi, Amelia." She clutched her throbbing head.

"What happened, Miss Lina? Were you attacked?" Amelia kneeled by her protector in concern.

"Naw." She glanced over at Zel who stood across from her now, watching silently, worry in his eyes.

"Luna?" Zel asked quietly.

Lina closed her eyes and frowned.

"Oh, Miss Lina, we need to take you into the palace! To the royal healers and so you can rest in your bed!"

At the sight of Lina's scared look, an image of her walking past all the palace guards, all weak and charred by Mono Volts flashed into Zel's mind.

"No, it's alright, Amelia." Lina retorted.

"But, Miss Lina! You're hurt."

Lina indeed needed to bite back some of her aches and sores. "I'm just fine, Amelia. See?" Lina gave the princess her happy-go-lucky smile.

"...OK, Miss Lina." Amelia still looked worried. "But let me at least try my healing spells. Or, if it's because it hurts too much to walk, I'm sure Mr. Gourry can carry you." Amelia looked around. "He was following us around here somewhere."

"I'm. Fine."

Zel knelt beside her and began a healing spell. Lina watched Zel, trying not to hold her breath. He cupped his hands filled with white light, less than an inch over her arm, then her leg, then her face. Zel stared at her, concentrating on the spell; Lina, at him, for another reason.

"Thanks, Zel." She said when he had finished.

He smiled and sat beside her, as Amelia already had. This particular hill overlooked some of the surrounding city, over the palace walls.

"All these people will be Ok, won't they?" Amelia stared at shopkeepers and villagers going about their normal lives.

"That all depends on how ready we are, when the Mazoku decide to reappear." Lina answered. "They've disappeared for the past few months, but after what they're already proven themselves capable of, they've got to be planning something."

Amelia looked frightened. Lina took a glance and decided not to be so serious. She smiled.

"Don't worry, Amelia! We'll be ready!"

"Yeah! And if things get bad, they won't be able to beat the Demonsblood Crystal!"

"That's right, Amelia!"

Amelia stood and skipped towards the edge of the hill's slope. She stopped and smiled confidently at her people.

"Lina."

"I know, Zel." Lina's smile vanished. "If things get really bad, I'll have to use the Nightmare Magics. But it's important I... _protect_ Amelia." Lina watched the princess near the steep slope.

"*We*'ll be there to back you up. So it won't have to come to that." Zel stared intently and completely serious at Lina.

She smiled, suddenly feeling reassured.

By the slope, Amelia tried to do the same for herself. *They're going to be just fine... Tonight, we'll have the final wedding rehearsal, the after-rehearsal dinner party, tomorrow I'll get married, and the people will still be just fine. Just fine...*

* * *

Zelgadis walked down the hall in a tux. Lina should have been getting ready for the dress wedding rehearsal. Instead, he found her playing poker with the other knights. Just for the sheer pleasure of making men three times her size leave in defeat. Then casting that both smug and innocent smile, and exclaiming "And that makes 60 GOLD that you owe me!", as the dejected knight cussed. Zel began to laugh to himself.

"By god! Something's made him laugh!" Zelgadis turned to see Rezo, all formally dressed as well.

"Hello, Grandfather." Zel blushed trying to re-compose himself.

"I hope you're ready for tomorrow, Zelgadis." Rezo continued to walk passed him. "Or, rather, tomorrow night!"

"Grandfather!" Zel let his strange relative walk off. Instead, he leaned on one of the low walls outlining the corridor and focused on dissipating his blush. Trying to distract himself, he began fidgeting with his gloves. He began staring at his hand. *So close...* he thought. He could have almost touched Lina. He felt his efforts to dissipate his blush, fade. *Did she notice?... I sincerely hope not!* It had taken high amounts of self-conscious control on his part to act like healing her was an ordinary event. How he ever kept from blushing then,...Well, he just thanked L-sama. Staring out the 2nd story, open corridor, Zel's eye wandered. Finally, Lina was headed to her room to change. *Luna would fry her to a crisp if she wasn't at the rehearsal on time.* Zel shook his head. Was it normal to be this concerned? Lina's silhouette behind the window curtains began slipping off her clothes. Zel whipped back towards getting through the hall. No way he was going to be able to stop blushing now. *Great. I'm never going to hear the end of it from Grandfather.*

* * *

"And then, I say, 'You may now kiss the bride'."

Amelia, glanced up shyly at Zel, watching for what he would do.

"Um..." He turned quickly back to the priest. "Then we lead the procession from the palace chapel straight to the ballroom for the reception?"

"Yes."

Zelgadis nodded, offered Amelia his arm, as was proper, then started walking down the aisle.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Lina burst through the chapel doors huffing and puffing. "But this bride's maid outfit is really hard to get on."

"That's because she has no figure." Martina and Naga giggled from their bride's maid positions by the priest.

Lina gave them a death glare. Luna gave Lina a death glare. Amelia tugged on Zelgadis's arm, as Lina realized she was blocking the doors and stepped to the side.

"Zelgadis?" Amelia looked up at him.

"Oh? Uh, yes." Zel snapped out of his sudden daze from when Lina burst in, and let Amelia lead him to the ballroom. He whispered to the side as he stepped passed Lina, "Look at you. All dressed up."

"You too." She smiled as he passed the chapel doors.

* * *

*Where was she?*

"Zelgadis?"

*She should have been here by now.*

"Zelgadis?"

"Hm?"

"Who are you looking for?"

"Nothing."

"You always say that." Amelia looked a little downcast, and Zel did feel a little sorry for her. But he wasn't too inclined to do anything about it.

*The more time she's gone, the more chances are she's getting fried by Luna.*

Zelgadis and Amelia continued to dance at the after-rehearsal dinner party. The princesses chatted by the buffet table before each being escorted to the dance floor.

"Oh, Zelgadis! Now is the perfect time to introduce Miss Sylphiel to Mr. Gourry!" Amelia lead Zel by the hand as he trudged and sighed.

* * *

Zel tuned out of the introductory chit chat. Again he glanced around the ballroom.

*Where? Ah!* "Excuse me a moment." Zelgadis left Gourry and Amelia, as Sylphiel continued engaging in their conversation. Zel stopped every few steps to let dancers go by or to see past heads. He followed the edges of a pink skirt disappearing behind more party guests. Ducking past, sprinting a few steps, pausing. Finally, he made it to the edge of the dance floor. The pink satin again disappeared behind more people-who were standing at a buffet table, no less. Zel smiled to himself. *Yes, she'd go to the food first.* He strode up to her and was about to tap her shoulder, when he saw the long blond hair. Princess Filia of Mars took a small biscuit to go with her tea and proceeded across the room. *Of course!* Zel grumbled to himself. *Lina was wearing a bride's maid dress! The same as 5 other girls. Gods!* He berated himself. *How ridiculous!*

Zel took a seat near the buffet table, with a good view of the other ones as well. Eventually, she would have to come. He stared blankly at the moving people, letting their collective talking dissipate into murmurs, as his mind drifted away. After 20 minutes, Zel shifted in his seat, crossing his arms. After more time had passed, he felt a tap on the shoulder from behind, just out of his peripheral vision. Like a hiding game.

"Zel-" a familiar voice began.

*L-* Zel closed his mouth, mid-smile, after he turned in his seat.

"Prince Zelgadis." Luna nodded to him.

"Good evening, Luna." He replied.

"Enjoying yourself? Amelia is on the other side of the ballroom."

"I am aware."

Luna's features changed ever so slightly in a scrutinizing fashion. Zel tried to counter.

"I do not mean to disrespect your hospitality."

"What is it then?" Luna waited carefully for his answer.

"I suppose it is my fault. I don't feel I can enjoy the party yet."

"Oh?"

"It's nothing I can really name. If you'll excuse me." Zel took a cup of tea from the table and a small cream puff, from a variety which Luna recognized as one of Lina's favorites. Luna watched after him, her gaze even more critical as well as comprehending.

* * *

By this time, Zel had eaten the cream puff. *Great. Now she's given me a sweet tooth.* Zelgadis leaned back in his chair. The adjacent conversation drifted his way.

"...Of course, things are so much better, now that we don't have to worry about the Mazoku..."

*Mazoku...* Zel thought. Days earlier, he and Lina were discussing ways to counteract the Mazoku. She tossed around radical ideas like, destroying the negative energy composing a Mazoku, by feeding off of it, bit by bit, then recycling it before it took control. Theoretically, it could work. Mazoku were so powerful, they were practically energy beings-of negative energy, of course. Take apart their building blocks, and they would cease to exist. Much easier than trying to totally dissipate the energy all at once with a single Ra Tilt. Especially since the more dangerous Mazoku that they were concerned with were strong enough to withstand Ra Tilts. Zel rested his chin in his palm, propping his elbow up on the armrest. The other conversations continually drifted towards him, as he sat alone, in a silence.

Just when he was about to scream (he was so bored), he got up, and weaved past the dancers, and towards the staircase. Ducking to the side, he waited outside the staircase, then abruptly placed his hand on the banister. Which, blocked the path of the absent-minded hand gliding down it.

"Huh?"

Lina befuddled. A rare treat. Zel smiled.

"Had a rough time of it?"

"I'll say! When everyone left the chapel, Luna pulled me back inside, fried me, then I had to get cleaned up all over again!"

Did she notice how the jewels she wore sparkled on her glowing skin, or how her hair swished with each exasperated movement? Probably not. *Stop staring. You're probably grinning like an idiot.* Zel told himself.

"Zel. Stop grinning like an idiot."

He began to blush.

Lina chuckled a little. "Sorry about that, Zel. C'mon." She hesitated a moment before taking his hand.

Zel tried to read something in her eyes. Something breaking her usual fearless gaze? When she...glanced at *him*? *What...?*

"You've got to start me on the dance floor!" She grinned, smothering whatever else Zel saw, with her enthusiasm.

"Alright." Zel followed. "But now I'm going to pay you back for that first time we danced!"

* * *

Lina wandered out one of the open doors of the ballroom to an adjacent outdoor patio.

"I heard you came looking for me, Zel?" Lina turned and leaned on the patio's banister. Zel glanced behind at the glass doors, thankful the people inside were too preoccupied with the party.

"Who told you that?"

"Amelia. She said you were totally distracted until...you were done waiting for me." She looked like an anxious child.

"Well...yes."

"Why _is_ that, Zel?"

For the life of him, he didn't know, or rather, couldn't say. There were so many emotions swirling around while waiting what seemed like an eternity for her. And now that Lina was only a few feet away from him... He just couldn't identify it all. Even now, he couldn't explain things. His heart beat so fast and his breathing changed accordingly. Why couldn't he move or think when he looked at her?

Lina was gripping with her own emotions, continually trying to deny their only reasonable meaning. Experimentally, she stepped closer to Zel, watching for his reactions. Lina's own chest heaved inside the corset of her dress as she stared up at him. If there was even the faintest glimmer of...that something, in Zel, then maybe, MAYBE her own instincts weren't that far off.

He stiffened considerably as she slowly paced towards him, continuing his stare. His eyes had so much confusion and fear...or maybe...longing?

Lina hadn't even noticed that she stopped so near to him. She was still captivated in deciphering what they both felt. Zel could feel his body flush and a heat rise in his chest. His senses felt inexplicably drawn to her. Why?

Both unconsciously leaned in, closing their eyes. Timidly, their lips met, gliding over each other for the briefest of seconds. Wanting, but holding back. In the release, both opened their eyes and saw. Their lips came together again, this time accompanied by their bodies.

At the same time, they pushed away from each other, just as suddenly as they came together.

"Stop."

"Wait."

They both gasped, staring at the ground. The two stared at each other for a moment, as eyes bored through the other's soul. Lina couldn't take that.

"Oh. The rose gardens."

"What?" Zel said, still dazed.

"The rose gardens." She glanced to the side and took a step back. "I should pick some...for...Amelia's bouquet." She turned and stared walking off the patio stairs. She didn't dare look back, nor was she enthusiastic to speed her pace. Behind her, his steps followed. When she finally stopped, Lina had reached a thick enclave of rose bushes. A wind blew as she turned slowly. Rose petals fluttered to the already red carpet of sweet grasses. They again stood there, several paces apart, only the scent of roses on the breeze interrupting their stare.

"Stop following me."

"Lina." Zel whispered with so much pain and confusion in his eyes. Summoning his courage, the prince approached her. "Does this...mean...?" He slowly reached for her hand, their gazes unwavering. Only when he began to squeeze her palm tightly in his, did she come back to herself.

"Mean what?" She tried to smile. Again, she turned from him, gently twirling her gown, and stopping to look at a far off tree.

"Lina." If this was true. If what they felt was really happening, then tomorrow would seal his fate forever. Both of theirs. "Lina." He had to try to save this, his one chance for happiness. "Do you feel the same as I do?"

What was happening? This could not be happening! She was in love with the Prince?! And not just any Prince... Lina became downcast. Amelia... She was supposed to protect her. If they did this... Lina would never forgive herself for hurting her. ...But that didn't mean she didn't feel it.

She turned back towards Zel. She shook her head, smiling. "Very direct as always, Zel." More quickly now, he reached for her hand. She anticipated the intensity of his hold and she never broke it.

"Zel." She looked up into his cerulean eyes.

"Truthfully, Lina. Don't change the subject anymore."

She mouthed the words: "I love you." She could feel his hand squeeze hers more tightly. And a smile came to his lips.

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'and'?!"

Rose petals flew by again.

"I'm scared." she almost whispered.

"So am I." He whispered in return.

Lina was very shaky in these matters, but the hell with it! She let her defenses fall even further, and leaned up against his chest. He closed his arms around her.

Zel was a bit surprised when she stared to snuggle within his comforts. He closed his eyes, savoring her movements. Gently, he bent his head down to rest on her shoulder, nuzzling her firey hair in reply. Lina felt his lips on her neck and was paralyzed.

"Zel? What're you-?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't-" He pulled away.

At the sight of his repentant eyes, she smiled.

"It's nice."

He gave a questioning look and she nodded. He held her again, resting his cheek against her skin. Lina's hands slid out and around his neck, as she pulled herself closer. Zel responded by timidly increasing his hold on her. Slowly, they kissed again, letting it last this time. Totally absorbed in teasing each others lips, in the feel of her, and the taste of him, things got blurry. They found themselves lowered to the rose-covered sweet grasses, and never bothered to question it.

* * *

[Lemon scene omitted from posting.]

* * *

The two walked back into the ballroom, each gripping the other's hand. And determined to have it stay that way, no matter what. But before anyone made any stands, Luna and Rezo burst in, yelling.

"We're under attack! Under attack!"

"Get to the armaments! We need everyone who can, to fight!"

Lina and Zel immediately snapped their fingers in unison.

"Handy spell." Zel smiled to her, no longer in his tux, but fully armed in his royal, black Earth armor instead.

"That's why I made it." Lina smiled, smug, and now in her own power-boosted, gold and white, royal armor.

The nobles of the party quickly peered out the windows.

"A Mazoku army!" The astonishment and horror began in the nobles' faces. To which, King Phil raised his hands.

"Now, now. I'm sure we can explain to the Mazoku our positions, and they can do the same! Then we can all come to an understanding and peaceful compromise." He grinned confidently.

Not a second later, a blast pierced straight through the ballroom, from the ceiling. The west wing of the palace erupted in rubble and screams.

* * *

Luna charged through the melee of monsters and knights.

*Where is that little sister of mine!?* If she didn't find her soon, chances that she could be dead, increased. Then it would be too late for all of them.

*I have to give her the Demonsblood Crystal so she can summon the Lord of Nightmare's power! Damn! If only I was the one specializing in Nightmare Magics!* Luna dodged a mace, turned to see a new swarm of monsters, and raised her hand. Cephieed's power came to her in a blinding flash, and the monsters seemed to vanish instantly. But it left their stronger Mazoku masters only slapped on the wrist. They let down their defensive spells and willingly chased Luna down. Like it was nothing, she continued her search.

"LINA! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

* * *

"Zel!" Lina called over her shoulder, after slicing through some monsters. "Look up ahead!"

"Grandfather!"

"Go after him, Zel. I'll keep the monsters off you and take the Mazoku by surprise while they're distracted by you coming."

Up ahead, Rezo had been fairing rather easily against the trolls and chimeras, but now he was being surrounded by the Mazoku commanding such monsters. They attacked him all at once, barring down on the protective dome he had erected around himself. *They're...a little tougher than I anticipated.* Rezo had to admit to himself. His shield was beginning to crack, and his body was becoming exhausted. *Well, then, I better switch to a body type I've been saving for just such an occasion!*

"Grandfather!"

Rezo's ears whipped towards Zelgadis's voice. "Zelgadis!" He called. "Stay back!" But it was too late. One of the two Mazoku surrounding Rezo had already become interested in the approaching prince. With a carefree, sadistic smile, she readied a relatively low level spell (relative to levels that usually required real effort for Mazoku), and decided to savor the irony of the heroic Earth prince being taken out by a simple, well-placed, low-level shot.

"Zelgadis!" Lina yelped from behind a crumbling wall, where she was ready to spring a sniper shot. She was about to blind the Mazoku's vision with a Flare Bit, when a sudden yank on her foot proved she had even more pressing matters. Lina quickly kicked the troll's wrist free of her ankle, and landed back on the ground, surrounded by ten armed berserkers, their swords already drawn. 3 of them took stabs at her from all sides. *Zel! I've got to cover him!* She dodged enough to Diem Wing the berserkers away. *Zel-!* she jumped over the crumbled wall in time to see the Mazoku's blast reach a few inches away from her lover's face.

"Hey! Where is he?" The Mazoku not attacking Rezo glanced around. "No human can move that quickly!"

From inside his weakening dome, Rezo overheard and smirked. Then he chuckled as Zelgadis managed to catch the Mazoku from behind with an astral spell. The Mazoku seemed knocked out in some rubble.

*I don't understand.* Zel thought to himself. *I didn't have time to cast a Ra Tilt. My Elmekia Flame shouldn't have been strong enough to do that.*

"Ok. That was not funny." The Mazoku crawled out and got to her feet. Ominous negative energy gathered at her fingertips. "Wait a minute. A chimera?"

"Zel?!" Lina slowed her run towards him. "Look at your hands!"

Zel did as he was told and saw that his hands were now blue and covered with pebbles. "What-?"

But there was no time. The Mazoku was already blasting away.

"Zel! My theory!" Lina called between dodges.

Zel nodded, and let the Mazoku attack Lina, while he seemed to back off. To the Mazoku's surprise, Lina allowed the Mazoku's negative powers to envelop her. The Mazoku girl didn't bother to question the opportunity. She began her astral attack, saturating Lina with her negative emotions, trying to take control of her. Lina grit her teeth, trying to resist, but never taking the offensive. At the side, Zel began his own astral attack.

"What the-!?" The Mazoku's knees weakened from under her. The blow on the Astral Plane, from all the positive emotions Zel shot at her all at once-Really stung! *And I thought our spies said he was always sulking!* The Mazoku was distracted, fighting against Zel. Now, Lina made her offensive.

The Mazoku began to fade. She darted a look at Lina.

"I specialize in Nightmare Magics, Mz. Mazoku." She said with a wink and a smile. "It's not far off from controlling negative power in general."

The Mazoku stared at her hands as they faded, her powers and lifeforce being absorbed by Lina. Zel stepped up to the Mazoku girl. She looked up, seeing Zel's eyes narrow and a concentrated ball of astral energy ready in his hand.

"And guess who's helping her convert your power into pure neutral energy." A bright flash was the last of their opponent.

The Mazoku attacking Rezo must have seen his compainion's death and taken the hint, because he vanished. Rezo fell, completely exhausted.

"Grandfather?" Zel quickly came to Rezo's side.

"Before you ask, _I_ changed your body, Zelgadis." Rezo kneeled, leaning on his staff. "It's a chimera body I've been designing for a while. Keep it for the rest of this fight. You'll need it against the Mazoku."

"Got any extras?" Lina hopped to Zelgadis's side. "We need all the power boosters we can get."

"Sorry." Rezo smiled apologetically.

One of the many blasts Shabranigudo rained down on the Moon, again headed towards a part of the palace still standing.

"Zel, I've got to find Amelia and Gracia."

He nodded. "I'll help where I can and meet back with you."

"Where?"

Zel looked at her for a moment. "We'll just know." There seemed to be a silence, despite the crumbling palace and sounds of battle in the background.

Slowly, Lina nodded.

"Be careful." He whispered.

"You too." She cupped her hand to his cheek, and he closed his eyes. In a flash, Lina was jumping to the top of a stone pile that used to be one of the palace walls. She turned and flashed the victory sign. "These Mazoku picked a fight with the wrong kingdom!" She jumped again, disappearing over the rubble mound. Zel watched her.

After she was gone, Rezo was ready to be helped up. But just as he finally stood again, he fell, almost on Zelgadis.

"Grandfather!"

Zel came back to his senses and pulled the axe out of Rezo's back.

"No..." He recognized the blade. "Rodimus." He turned to see one of his 2 highest generals. "Zolf." He turned to the other. "Gourry, not you too."

"Yup!" The last Mazoku that attacked Rezo before, reappeared. "Mind-controlled for my convenience. Hurry, quick, decide! Don't fight, and die? Or... Well, you know." The creature smiled.

Zel finished taking a deep breath. Kill his friends? There was no way he could break a Mazoku's mind-control spell... Quieting something inside himself, he replied, "They know their duties." His 2 generals and bodyguard approached, and Zel drew his sword.

* * *

Amelia ran up the stairs, clutching the long skirt of her gown.

*I have to get to the balcony!* She huffed and puffed, her blood filling with adrenaline. *From there, I'll be able to see where all the Mazoku are, and deliver justice to their evil ways!* "Stop right there, servants of darkness!" She pointed when she reached the top.

"Hm?" One Mazoku turned from his orchestration of part of the battle, to see a girl desperately trying to catch her breath. He glided down to her balcony from where he floated.

"Why, you're the little Moon princess, aren't you?" He said with a smile so amused, his eyes were closed.

"That's right! And I-Ouch!"

He rapped her gently on the head with this ruby-ended staff. "You really should stop the speeches. You'll give away all your secrets to your enemy." He chided, waving his finger.

Amelia jumped back and was about to ready a spell, or another speech, one couldn't be sure. But the Mazoku seemed only happily disconcerted.

Suddenly, he opened his amethyst eyes, noticing roses being thrown at him from the side. He teleported and reappeared a few steps from where he formerly was. The roses, still in their heavy pot, rushed by and crashed loudly. Lina readied to hurl another vase from the balcony when she heard the Mazoku's voice directly behind her.

"Ah, the princesses' personal knight. Our spies have told us so much about you."

Lina whipped out her sword, as she turned, and making a swipe, all in the same movement. When the cut on his chest healed immediately, Lina slowly backed off, coming between the Mazoku and Amelia.

"I see why I should hang onto you..." He eyed her. "Why not join Shabranigdo's ranks, Lina? It's so much fun." He smiled, as always.

"Heh. First off, I don't know how the hell a damned Mazoku like you knows me *that* well to be interested in me that way. And secondly, why would I want to join a f*cking fruitcake like you?!"

"Lina-chan. That hurts my feelings." He smiled. "Thank you." And raised his staff.

Lina focused on a defensive spell, centering on her sword. *Maybe then, a flash of light for distraction, I'll grab Amelia, quickly followed by a Raywing to escape..."

From behind, Amelia watched shaking, her gaze going between her lifelong guardian and an attack from one of the most ruthless and powerful creatures in the universe.

"NO!" Amelia screamed as their attacker fired.

"Amelia-!?" Lina was pushed to the ground, and looked up in time to see the blast take down the princess.

"NO! Damn it, Amelia!" Lina felt the hot tears sear beneath skin. Lina violently pushed off the ground and readied her sword against Amelia's killer.

"Lina-chan, do you really think you'll win?"

"Actually..." Lina readied a spell between her fingers.

The Mazoku smirked.

Lina Bomb Di Winded towards the ground beneath her, hurling her far into the sky and toppling the entire balcony area around the Mazoku. The momentum of the blast began to slow, and Lina was about to begin a Raywing spell to land her in a safe location. Suddenly, an irresistable gust of wind intercepted her mid-air and pulled her towards the Mazoku side of the battle, namely, the patch of sky where they appeared.

"Let me introduce myself." The Mazoku appeared again beside her, just outside the tunnel of wind. "After all, after I kill you and resurrect you as a Mazoku, we'll be together for a long time. I'm Xellos."

"I don't care who *cough*cough* you are! *wheeze* Put me down you..." Lina tried for a Ra Tilt. But the wind flipped and whipped her in all directions, feeling like punches and throws.

* * *

Zel Ra Tilted a Mazoku with all the force of vengeance for his late friends. He looked up at the sky, seeing his love being pulled across by the winds. "Lina!"

"Zel!" Lina coughed, her breath forced through the air currents, as she shielded her eyes from the same force. She squinted, and realized Zel was running up to the gust, about to...

"Zel! Don't you dare jump up with me! Just run!"

Dismissing her warning, Zel did just the opposite, and reached for her hand. Lina did the same. Their hands gripped one last time. Lina and Zel locked gazes, comforted for a mere second, before Shabranigdo's blast took them in its path.

"Lina! No! He's taken them both!" came a scream from the ground.

"Oh, pooh." Xellos tapped his chin, while still floating in the air. "I really wanted a new toy."

Down below, Luna's bangs shaded her eyes more darkly than usual.

"Then there's only one thing left." The knight of the Moon Kingdom clasped the Demonsblood Crystal to the hilt of her sword. Raising the blade, she began to reluctantly whisper chaos words. But to no effect; not a hint of the Lord of Nightmare's power came to her.

A deafening laugh echoed from the sky. The large crustaceous-like creature stopped raining down destructive blasts and regarded Luna. "Foolish! So foolish! Do you really believe I would let you use my own blood to call L-sama against me!"

"Damn!" Luna clentched the sword tightly. The Demonsblood Crystal could not call the Lord of Nightmares even if _one_ of the 4 demon-god bloods inside refused to work. *But only Nightmare Magics will be strong enough against Shabranigdo!...* Luna's mind raced. *And only gods have blood strong enough to call on L-sama! Unless...* She would have to risk it. There was nothing left of the kingdom. If only the power level of demon-gods were strong enough to summon Nightmare Magics, then a dragon-god on the same level as the demon-gods should work just as well. "Forgive me, Cephied." Luna whispered. "But you must help me do this!" Once again, she whispered Chaos Words, but with a slight modification.

"What!? NOOOO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" Shabranigdo and all his subordinates were surrounded by crackling, black lightning. It filled the sky to no end. Not even Luna could have predicted this.

"No, wait! Stop!" She whispered desperately. "It's too much!" The nightmares enveloped the entire Moon, damning all the souls it touched into oblivion. *I can't let it pull in everyone!*

Too late. L-sama's nightmares had everyone in her grasp. But by luck, Cephied directed her hands.

"Into the Crystal!" Luna yelled. The Demonsblood Crystal could do it. It had to. It already had the capabilities to hold the power of 4 demon-gods, why not add some lesser Mazoku and a couple thousand humans? *It's the only way.* Luna told herself. *If I destroy the Mazoku, I'll destroy Lina and the others too!* Luna desperately tried to hold her body together, as L-sama's power coursed through her like a lightning rod.

When it was all over, everything was tucked safely into the Demonsblood Crystal. Luna, the only being left, collapsed onto the crumbled remains of the Moon Kingdom, the Silver Millennium over. Her fuchsia hair was stark white. Her lungs struggled for strength to just breath. She slowly reached for her sword. The Demonsblood Crystal was still crackling with excess power. Fissures appeared in its facets. With the last of her strength, Luna controlled the division and separated the Crystal safely into individual talismans. Then, she breathed her last.

The Demonsblood Talismans floated above the desolate battlefield and instinctively headed towards Earth, carrying the souls of thousands of beings. In time, the Talismans' power would give way, releasing the Mazoku into the Astral Plane, where Luna's soul waited to seal them. In time, the human souls would be released as well, but for rebirth, not imprisonment.

On Earth, twilight broke into a new dawn.

* * *

_CREDITS_

"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.

"Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon: Twilight of the Moon Kingdom" was written by mysticdragon3 from 6/3/99 to 2/9/2000. *Whew!*


	2. Part 1: Reawakening

Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon part 1: Reawakening

* * *

Lina Tsukino walked down the streets of the Juuban District, not really looking where she was going. Rather, she was reading a sheet of paper. She crumpled the test in her hand. "Danm, a 'C-'! I knew I shouldn't have stayed up all night reading those occult books!" Lina threw the wad of paper behind her head.

"Hey!" A soft male voice objected from behind her. Lina turned to see a boy with dark purple hair over one eye...unfolding and reading her test paper. "A 'C-'?!" He looked up to regard her. Lina blushed with embarrassment, but turned to defend herself.

"For your information," Lina marched towards him, "That grade is a total fluke! I'm an A-student!" Regarding the evidence in his hand again, the boy continued disbelievingly. "A bookworm, huh?" Lina defied his sarcasm with a serious expression edging on the temptation to drop kick him. But then she replied smugly.

"No, actually. Brilliance just comes to me naturally." The boy nodded, still not convinced, and turned away, but not before Lina caught him rolling his eyes. Lina gave him a quick jab in the shoulder. "Just who do you think you are, anyway!?" He sighed and replied matter-of-factly.

"Zelgadis Chiba. Now if you'll excuse me, there's somewhere I need to be." Zelgadis weaved through the crowds in the street before disappearing from Lina's sight. She sighed.

_There goes my reputation, yet again._ It was bad enough that Naga Aino made popular the nickname "Dramata" when referring to Lina around Crossroads High School. Now perfect strangers would regard her as a joke too. At least Naga she could bop on the head. It just wouldn't do to be that violent with strangers. She was raised to be polite, afterall.

Later at the Tsukino household, Lina laid out on her bed reading (an occult book AGAIN, instead of a text book), with a plate of chocolate cheesecake handy. Lina turned over to lay on her stomach when she heard a creak through her window. She immediately put down the book and got quiet, tracing over her room with her eyes. When a black cat (slightly fuchsia hued) hopped up on her bed, Lina almost jumped out of her skin.

"Jeeze, don't scare me like that, kitty!"

"Meow." Lina offered the cat her hand, which it promptly sniffed and accepted. Lina began to scratch its furry little head when she took note of the bandaid on its forehead.

"Who put this on, kitty? Do you belong to someone?"

"Meow." Lina carefully lifted the adhesive strip.

"Hold still now. If you're bruise or whatever isn't healed under here, I'll have to get a new bandage for you." Lina removed it.

"Me-OWWWW! *hiss*"

"SOR-RY!" Lina grimaced. Just as she began to stare at the crescent moon on the cat's forehead...

"You're still not careful, Lina."

"W-w-what?!"

"That's right. I'm a cat and I'm talking. You probably don't remember your past life, but I'm the reincarnation of your older sister, Luna."

"Heh-heh. You had bad karma in your last life, didn't you? Very funny. Alright!" Lina almost yelled out. "Whoever is throwing their voice and playing this joke, you've got _wayyyy_ too much time on your hands. You people must have no life!"

"Lina, this isn't a joke." The cat said seriously. Lina just gave it a disbelieving, but wary look. "*sigh* Fine. I'll prove it." Before Lina could react, a beam of light shot out from the cat's crescent moon mark. As the light penetrated Lina's forehead. Her eyes closed into darkness.

Lina stared at her hands. They were translucent. And she was floating in a dark void with many lights in the distance.

"Where am I?"

"You're on the Astral Plane." A woman with short fuchsia hair and long bangs floated up next to Lina. "It's me, Luna."

"Well, what's going on here!?"

"We're in a place where people exist only as spirits-"

"I KNOW what the Astral Plane is! I've read all the books! Now why did you bring me here? So you could meld our minds together and prove you're telling the truth?"

"Yes, Lina." The image of Luna almost smiled before whispering, "You're still very perceptive." Lina caught that and replied.

"Yeah. Perceptive enough to realize that you're obviously more of an expert in the Astral Plane than I am, and could very easily manipulate my mind and show me lies instead of the truth." Luna sighed.

"And you're still very stubborn."

"HEY!" Lina took a swing at Luna, her fist accompanied by a great surge of power which Luna barely managed to dodge. Beneath her bangs, Luna's eyes widened in shock.

"Even after all this time of dormancy, your power is still strong!" Lina wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was in awe as well. "Very well." Luna conceded. "You obviously would put up a powerful resistance if I invaded your mind to uncover your past life memories. You will remember when you are ready. So I will simply show you my memories." Luna bowed her head and concentrated. Her astral body melted into a window of images as her voice emanated from it. "Thousands of years ago, when sorcery still existed, instead of mere myth in your books, each planet in this solar system was inhabited by human kingdoms..." As Luna explained, Lina squinted at the images her mind created. They were all fuzzy. As if sensing this, Luna paused in her story. "Yes, my visual memories have been deteriorating, but my emotional memories are still in tact."

"But why?"

"All this time, until you removed that bandage from my crescent mark, I have been trapped here, in the Astral Plane, unable to do more than gently guide the subconscious mind of my reincarnated host."

"You mean the cat." Lina winked.

"Yes." Lune answered dryly. "But when the other Sailor Slayers are found, I will be able to transform back into my human body and take my place as the Guardian of Time." Lina arched an eyebrow. Luna continued. "When the Mazoku attacked, the defenders of the Moon Princesses, including you, me, the princesses of the other planets, and the Prince of Earth, were caught unprepared. Because of this, we lost the battle. I was the only one left. And still sworn to protect the royal family, there was only one thing left I could do to save them: Rescue their souls and reincarnate them for the future. Unfortunately, the spell I cast required me to call upon the Lord of Nightmares. My body could not handle all the Nightmare Magic, and my physical self died. I've been here, all this time, in the Astral Plane, gathering power and watching over the seal I placed on the Mazoku."

"If you've had thousands of years to gather power, why haven't you been able to return to the Physical Plane?" Lina interrupted. Luna reverted back to her human-like Astral form.

"Because I am inexperienced in using Nightmare Magics as I cast the Spell, there were some improper transfers to the Astral Plane as well as back to the Physical. I myself lost most of my strength since my physical death, and it has taken me these thousands of years to regain enough power to strengthen my connection with my reincarnated body, through that crescent moon mark." Luna cleared her throat to continue.

"It's not possible to clear your throat in the Astral Plane!" Lina pointed out. Luna blushed and sweatdropped.

"As I was saying, the spell also captured the souls of the Mazoku, and locked them away. But I've sensed the seal deteriorating. They are slowly breaking it and will soon be able to return to the Physical Plane, as well as run rampant in the Astral."

"And what am I supposed to do about all this?"

"You're still sworn to protect the Moon Princesses. The Mazoku will no doubt try to take their revenge on them. You must find the Princesses first, and defeat the Mazoku."

"All the Mazoku?" Lina sweatdropped this time.

"Not all. The seal I placed on them was great. Only a few Mazoku will be able to escape at any given time. Now there's something on the Physical Plane that I need to show you."

After a large flash of light from Luna, Lina checked her hands. _*whew* Opaque._ Luna, in cat form again, nudged Lina as she lay on her bed.

"Lina. Take this." Luna pushed a broach towards Lina, which the cat pulled out of nowhere. Lina sat up.

"What's this?" Lina was still wary of this cat, but couldn't help but be dazzled by the beautiful jewelry.

"It's a talisman. It will be able to reawaken your powers from your past life." The cat was right. Lina touched a fingertip to it, and the broach seemed to ring with a power that tingled through her senses. But still... Luna gave her sister a look. "Lina, at some point you must trust me." After a moment of thought for both parties, Luna sighed. "If you don't believe me, wait. Soon the Mazoku will reappear, and when you see all the horrors they cause, then you must believe me." And with that, the cat jumped out the window and left Lina alone with her thoughts.

Lina had read all about the Mazoku in her occult books. She thought a moment, but still couldn't explain what had just happened and all the things she had saw...unless those occult books were more than just myth and superstition. If everything Luna said was true, then Earth was in for A LOT of trouble. ...And Lina would be in for a lot of power. Our favorite red-head allowed herself a squeal of delight.

* * *

_CREDITS_

"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.

"Bishoujo Senshi, Sailormoon" is by Naoko Takeuchi.

"Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon: Part 1" was written by mysticdragon3 on 6/3/99.


	3. Part 2: Why Sailors?

Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon

part 2: Why Sailors?!

It had been a week since the strange encounter with the talking fushia-black cat. Lina found herself double checking all the legends in her books, skimming them for how to defeat Mazoku and for spells to memorize. If all this stuff about a Moon Kingdom and a past life was true, then Lina wanted to be ready to defend herself.

At lunch, Lina hefted her enormous lunch sack onto her lap and greedily emptied it while under a tree. Afterwards, she leaned back and began to nap against the tree trunk.

"Wake up, Lina-san!" Lina immediately smacked her friend for disturbing her contentment.

"Alright, Amelia. What is it?"

"There's a girl spreading false gossip about everyone all over school! It's a great injustice! We must do something about this!"

"Is she saying anything about me?" Lina mumbled, settling back against the trunk with only one eye open.

"No..."

"OK then." And Lina went back to sleep, ignoring Amelia. Amelia stood up and stuck a pose, probably practicing for what she had in store for that gossiper.

"I shall sway her from her evil ways myself!" She then bounded off to do so. Lina was thankful, when suddenly, something landed on her stomach.

"HEY!" Lina opened her eyes to stare straight into that of a cat's. "Luna?"

"Lina," Luna asked without delay, "who was that girl?"

"Just a friend of mine, one of my classmates. Why?"

"I sense something from her." Luna hopped off of Lina.

"I bet you wish you could remember what all the people from your past life look like."

"Does this mean you believe me?" Begrudgingly Lina yielded a "maybe". "But you believe I'm a talking cat and I took you to the Astral Plane."

"I've been thinking about it for the past week, and it all certainly felt like nothing I could describe as anything else but magic... But there's still no proof that everything you told me while I was there is true." Luna sighed. She saw that she would have to use a little underhanded-ness.

"An entire week and you haven't once wondered how the talisman I gave you works?" Despite Lina's attempt at sleep, her ears perked at this comment. She had even tried to use the talisman; she could not get her mind off the thought of having real magic power. Luna inwardly smiled. Lina was still the same: intelligent, stubborn, as well as curious and ambitiously greedy. "I should tell you in case a Mazoku shows up. All you have to do is hold the broach and say 'Moon Prism Power'. You will then have the magic power to fight the Mazoku." Then suddenly, Luna bounded off again. Lina stayed reclined for only a few more seconds before pulling the talisman out of her skirt pocket and eyeing it again.

Instead of going home after class, Lina found herself wandering the city, deep in thought. She pulled her hand out of her pocket, with the talisman still clutched in her palm. She leaned against a rail overlooking the river channel and examined the talisman again. It was a simple silver circle with a gold crescent on one side, intricate etchings on the silver, diamonds at the corners of the crescent. It was elegent in its simplicity. Lina looked out over the water, not noticing the time until after enjoying the melting sunset. She straightened and decided she had better head home. As she passed by the park, she suddenly stopped and came to a decision.

"I'm going to try this. What could it hurt!" Lina entered the park and found a secluded area with plenty of tree cover. "If it turns out to be a trap, then I'll find a way out of it. I'm Lina Tsukino, after all." Staring at the talisman in her hand, Lina called out, "Moon Prism Power!" In a flash (literally), Lina was staring back at her now empty hand. "The talisman?! Where?" Lina looked around and found the broach clipped to the knot of a large red bow on her chest. In an almost frozen disbelief, she inspected the rest of her clothing. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"So." Luna's kitty eyes reflected from a nearby tree branch.

"Luna! What THE HELL is this!?" Lina flicked a hand at her short blue, sailor skirt.

"As I said a week ago, the reincarnation spell I cast required Nightmare Magics, in which I am rather inexperienced in. Some things inadvertently changed in their reincarnated state."

"But what does it have to do with this ridiculous sailor fuku!?"

"It was _supposed_ to be your royal Moon Knight uniform."

"So now whenever I want to use my magic, I have to wear _THIS_, because you messed up a spell?!"

"Yes." Luna's eyes rolled to the side, in annoyance with herself. Lina kicked the tree and Luna nearly feel off her branch. Luna gave her sister the icy stare of death, but it didn't seem to have the effect that it had in her last life.

_Well, the power better be worth it!_ Lina thought to herself. "Alright, Luna. What exactly can I do?"

"Well now," Luna smiled as she leap to the ground before Lina, "let us begin practicing."

* * *

_CREDITS_

"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.

"Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon" is by Naoko Takeuchi.

"Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon: Part 2" was written by mysticdragon3 on 6/3/99 and 6/4/99.


	4. Part 3: Return of the Mazoku

Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon

Part 3: Return of the Mazoku

* * *

Shabranigudu's state of mind was nothing short of excitement and anticipation. After many long millenniums, the seal on his kind was finally giving way. He himself would not be able to escape quite yet, but soon. All he would need was more power to break the seal completely. And the few Mazoku that the seal would allow to leave through its crack would be successful. They had a talent for generating negative energy among the humans. Hellmaster Fibrizo's followers would be the first. Now, there was only the waiting.

"Alright!" Lina cheered as another tree vanished. Her aim with her tiara was rapidly improving.

"Lina, I don't think there will be enough trees in this park for target practice." Luna warned.

"Oh, I'm not trying to destroy the whole park, Luna! Besides, I think I'm about done practicing my tiara. Now, what other spells can I do?"

"None."

"What? I thought you said this talisman would return my magic powers from my previous life?"

"Yes, but slowly."

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?!" Lina gave the cat a swift hit. "I expected to be able to throw spells like Fireball and Elmekia Lance!" Luna got up from the pavement with some surprise.

"And where did you learn those spells?"

"My books. The occult ones that were supposed to be filled with just superstitions."

"Ah, yes."

"And what kind of spell is this Tiara Magic? I've read about magic weapons, but never about something like this."

"It is another result of the unexpected changes in your reincarnation." Luna continued. "Your magic is channeling itself in this unusual, new manner, to suite your second life. But as your powers re-emerge with experience, you will be able to use proper spells."

"When do you think that will be?" Lina asked the fuchsia-black cat.

"When your powers are strong enough to properly transform you into Sir Inverse of the Moon Kingdom, instead of Sailor Moon."

Lina sighed.

* * *

Gossiping seems like such a little word, but it really is a wicked thing. It makes people despise each other, and drives others to feel alone. And the selfish motivations for spreading rumors! They're just, well..._delicious_. At least that's what the Mazoku watching Crossroads High School the next morning thought.

After that speech from Amelia yesterday, Mikuko simply scoffed. There were people she wanted to get back at for reasons known only to her. She had become a malicious thing on her own, but with the help of today's Mazoku, she'd soon become worse.

Lina sat under her usual tree, not quite ready to eat her lunch. She was too busy staring in shock at the spectacle all across the schoolyard. The name-calling, the vicious glares, the cat fights! Amelia tried desperately to calm them all down, but to no avail. She perched herself atop a tree and was giving a speech about truth, friendship, and forgiveness, to which no one listened. Of course, _whenever_ she gave a speech she might as well have been talking to herself. Lina almost felt sorry for Amelia. Then she turned her attention to her lunch.

Mid-meal, Lina froze at the sound of a group of girls behind her tree, chanting "Dramata! Dramata!". Lina's whole body began to twitch as her anger built up to a boiling point. She was about to jump up and beat the crap out of all of them when Luna landed on her head.

"Damn it, Luna! Get off!"

"Not now, Lina. Look!"

"At what?!" Lina spat out impatiently.

"You wanted your powers to grow? Now is your chance to gain some experience. Look at all those fighting girls. Concentrate, find that strange feeling inside you, similar to when you touched the talisman for the first time." Since this was all about increasing her powers, Lina reluctantly complied. Trying to remember the feeling, Lina searched herself and found a power. Her sight began to fog up with some kind of misty light, which then settled over the girls.

"Luna, what is that? It feels all wrong."

"That," Luna climbed down to Lina's shoulder, "which you're seeing with your Mage Sight, is psychic energy. And it feels wrong because it's Negative Energy." Lina noticed the cloud of light seeping off to the roof of one of the school buildings.

"Luna, do you see someone on that roof?" Luna followed Lina's line of sight, taking note of the trail of negative energy that lead up there as well.

"We better check it out." Lina headed for the said building and its set of stairs.

* * *

**_CREDITS_**

"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.

"Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon" is by Naoko Takeuchi.

"Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon: Part 3" was written by mysticdragon3 on 6/4/1999.


	5. Part 4: You Were Expecting a Speech?

Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon

Part 4: You Were Expecting a Speech?

* * *

"Moon Prism Power!...Kami-sama, I hope no one saw that!" Lina, now Sailor Moon, discreetly sped out of her hiding place and headed for the stairwell.

"Lina, wait."

"What is it, Luna?" Sailor Moon glanced back impatiently at the fuchsia-black cat.

"You can jump up to the roof from here." Lina looked up the 4 story building and made a crooked expression, which she then gave to Luna. "Just do it, Lina." Luna commanded flatly.

Lina sighed.

"This is stupid." She muttered. "If I end up looking idiotic, you're going to get it, Cat."

As Sailor Moon made the impossibly high distance, Luna made a mental side comment about how they already looked stupid.

Lina landed, surprised to see the Mazoku had not noticed her. He was so focused on gathering the Negative Energy swirling around him, that he hadn't even turned from the roof's edge.

This was going to be a piece of cake. Lina silently reached for her tiara, whispered Moon Tiara Magic, and let it fly.

It crackled and rebounded off some invisible shield. Lina ducked her returning tiara and caught it on the way back.

"Hmm?" The Mazoku turned slightly, slowing his work to a minimum. "What's this?" He had to completely stop his work when the girl threw her tiara a second time. He quickly dodged. "How rude! Not even an introduction? A warning?"

Lina scoffed, catching her tiara and trying to hide the tinge of fear from her first mystic fight. "Did you want to be friends? I came up here to fight! But still," Lina again readied her glowing tiara on the tip of her finger, and stood smug. "If you want to know, I'm Sailor Moon."

The Mazoku smiled and diverted some Negative energy her way. "Pleased to meet you."

Lina threw her tiara, and he dodged and kept firing away, as expected. Lina continued dodging his blasts.

His amused grin began to fade and he asked, "Why are _you_ smiling?"

Lina was no longer just dodging the blasts. Now, she was working her way past them, to get in close to the Mazoku. Of course, he wasn't worried at all about the prospect of physical harm, and grinned, amused again, at her futile tenacity. To his own surprise, she managed to get and stay within striking distance. He decided to leave the orb of collected energy and play her little game. Slowly, she backed him up towards the corner of the rooftop, as he floated and dodged each of her punches and kicks. He simply glided backwards, laughing the entire time.

"Do you need a break? You're starting to look tired!" Lina managed to smack him. And he just held still for a minute, savoring the sting. She took the time-out to quickly brush her bangs away from her bare brow. The Mazoku opened his eyes slowly as the pain dulled, and saw an incredible flash of light.

Lina's tiara hit him straight in the head during its controlled return trip, and he toppled off the rooftop.

The Mazoku lay on his back down below, and struggled to open his eyes. He berated himself for being so careless. He had forgotten about her tiara and let her back him up into its path, not to mention distance him away from the orb of Negative Energy that was reinforcing his powers. He fully opened his eyes now and saw Sailor Moon's tiara again heading straight for him. He managed to roll away, just as Sailor Moon jumped to the ground, reclaiming her tiara again.

"What kind of human are you?" He glared. "No human has magic _that_ strong!"

"Well, _I_ do!" Lina smiled and finished him off. *whew* _Wait..."that strong"?...Hmmm..._ Lina set her tiara back on her forehead and stared at the spot where her first real enemy disintegrated.

"Not bad, Sailor Moon." Luna tried not to say too enthusiastically, as she came from behind.

"Oh, hey, Luna." Lina continued as the cat came to stand by her side. "Looks like I've completely mastered controlling this tiara. Now, with that, and me being an incredibly fast learner, when do you think I'll be able to cast other magics?"

Luna smiled. "Soon enough. But first, what are you going to do about them?"

"Them?"

"Them." Luna directed Sailor Moon's attention towards the still-quarrelling school girls.

"Why do I have to break up their stupid fights? I already killed the bad guy!"

"Lina..." Luna started in a nagging tone.

"Oh, alright, alright! Geez. You'd think everything would be back to normal when the Mazoku died." Lina began to mutter as she turned towards the cat fights.

"The Mazoku didn't mind-control them to argue and become violent." Luna explained. "They only helped encourage events to result in their favor. What's happening now is independent of whether that Mazoku you beat is dead or not."

Lina sighed again. _Great. But how am I going to clean this up? _

Something zipped to the center of the courtyard, and within a few seconds, the girls had calmed down.

"What the-?" Lina stood staring. Good thing she had good vision, or she wouldn't have been able to make out the "-rose? What the heck?" Sailor Moon caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Sailor Moon! Where are you going!?" Luna called as Lina dashed off into a grove of trees.

Lina could see the silhouette between the rush of branches and brush. Simple. She'd just veer a little off her pursuit so he'd loose track of her, then she'd cut him off ahead. Lina swerved to the left in her run, found an opening of branches to the sky, and leapt ahead. During her descent, she could see him. Damn! He was fast! Lina took the chance to block him off with some fallen trees. She found her tiara, aimed at trees far ahead, and noticed him swerve away from the obstacle. She tired to compensate by landing before his new direction. Finally, something worked.

"You're a pain to catch, you know?" She smiled the smile of a well-earned victory. Sailor Moon stood before the one who she guessed threw the rose. She started to stare. There were patches of shadow all throughout the canopy of trees, but it wasn't hard to see what stood before her. "A tuxedo and top hat?" Lina crossed her arms. "Add that rose you threw and you're too overdressed for battle."

"And I suppose you're perfectly happy with the way _your_ powers manifest?"

Lina looked down at her short sailor skirt, bows, heeled boots, and long gloves. "Hey! It's the power that matters!"

"Exactly." He crossed his arms.

"Just what was with that rose, anyway?"

"It had a psychic spell attached to it."

"Giving the girls an imperative to lean towards positive emotions, no doubt."

He simply nodded.

"I could have handled it myself-"

The caped boy snorted.

Lina glared at him but continued. "But...well...thanks. Just who are you anyway?"

"I don't know what I am." With his painful emphasis on "what", Lina tried to get passed this subject quickly.

"I'm just curious about a name, Mr. Tuxedo."

"'Mr. Tuxedo'-?" His face quirked.

Lina smiled and rested her hands on her hips. "Have you got an alternative?"

The young man sighed. "Tuxedo Kamen."

"Now, why did you-"

Tuxedo Kamen blurred and a wind blew past Sailor Moon.

"-help me? Hmph." Lina stared into the trees where he disappeared. Earlier he was trying to hide his face in the shadows and under the brim of his hat, but Lina could still make out an odd skin tone and strange blotches on his face. This guy wasn't human. So what was his interest in her?

* * *

Later in class, the effects of Tuxedo Kamen's rose could still be felt.

Lina covered her hands over her head and tried to drown her face in her desk top.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Please excuse me."

"That is SOOO sweet of you!" Giggles, squeals, and sticky sweet niceness could still reach Lina's ears. At least she didn't have to see all the perfectly plastered smiles filling the classroom.

"...I don't know what evil got me to take the rumors so far!" Mikuko's voice came in. "And I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you before, Amelia! You were trying SOOO hard to break up the fights...that I...caused!" Mikuko almost cried into Amelia's shoulder.

"Don't be so sad, Mikuko-san!" Amelia replied. "It only matters that you've repented from a life of malice!"

"Oh, you're so kind!"

_I'm going to get that Tuxedo Kamen for this!_ Lina gritted her teeth as the sugary-niceness continued all around her.

* * *

Author notes (01/26/2013): Well, that's it. Sorry to say that I'm so out of practice writing Slayers or watching Sailormoon, that this fanfic will probably never be finished. ...But maybe I'll re-watch both series and by some miracle, be able to write in-character for Slayers again. Though, I doubt it. Sorry. Thanks to everyone who read this fic way back when, and are just finding it now. ^_^

* * *

_CREDITS_

"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.

"Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon" is by Naoko Takeuchi.

"Bishoujo Slayer, Sailormoon: Part 4" was written by mysticdragon3 on 10/3/99.


End file.
